Styleta Fashion Night Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Fridays ago, I went to a fashion show hosted by Styleta, our new fashion student organization on campus. The venue in the DUC Commons had a homey feeling and the girls set up a makeshift walkway right down the middle of the three rows of seats. The yellowish lighting there made my photos grainy but that's okay - Lightroom to the rescue! I owe some of these photos to their Facebook page (credit: Becky Mak) and feel free to check out all of the models and outfits there. I was sad I didn't RSVP in time for a goody bag because they were giving out all sorts of beauty products too. The trunk show immediately after featured a lot of the pieces that the models wore and I nabbed a cool versatile camel sweater seen in a previous outfit post here. 

On the topic of modeling, there were some amazing hidden talent stomping that runway. The pieces varied from flashy dinner party dresses to casual menswear and I couldn't stop staring at the shoes. There was also the adorable fur cape, but then found out it was real fur so I put it back on the rack. Also, those crazy punk hairstyles in the last round were awesome. A lot of work went into this fashion show and I'm hoping to see more of these shows from Styleta in the near future. Whilst I obsess for hours hunting for the perfect SLR and lens I want to save up for ... I'm slowly finding my way around Lightroom. Today I found the "expand tab" button and now I can edit all sorts of fun things. Improvement day by day! PC Vignette 2 is also a fave for making the models the center of attention.

Last but not least, I had the opportunity to interview Yifan, the Style Director at WashU, to learn a little bit more about what Styleta is all about.

What is Styleta and can you give us some history about the organization?

Styleta (www.styleta.org) is an upscale, modernized take on the brick-and-mortar charity store. Our student-run, nonprofit organization offers fashion-savvy consumers the chance to do good while shopping online for discounted designer duds. The concept was born when Styleta’s founder and CEO, Yifan Zhang, witnessed the women on her Harvard College campus throwing out their valuable designer clothing. Few charities focus on high-end fashion donations, leaving these gently-used clothes to fill landfills instead of closets. Styleta has given these donors a place where they know their clothing will go to good use.

For Holiday Season 2010, Styleta will be holding a special “Double Your Impact” online sale to allow customers to double the charitable impact of their purchases. When you spend $20 on a new top, a donor will match $20, so a total of $40 will be donated to help women around the world.

I understand that the WashU Styleta branch is brand new. How have things been going and what events have you hosted so far?

The Wash U Styleta campus started in August of this year, and we have been immensely successful. We have recruited and established a presence on campus, ran a clothing drive, hosted two photoshoots, and presented a large scale fashion show & trunk sale. Our fashion show/trunk sale was completely reserved out, ~160 ppl attended the event and we sold a lot of merchandise at the trunk sale.

What are you goals for Styleta in the near future?

Nationally, we want Styleta to be the go-to place for designer clothing donations. Additionally, we want to expand from 4 operating campuses to over 100. For the branch at Wash U, we'd like to host more charitable, fun events in the future and spread Styleta's influence on campus even more.

What does fashion mean to you personally?

To me fashion is warm boots, colorful winter coats, and pearly bracelets. It is a method of expression.

Give us a highlight of the show from backstage.

Backstage of any runway show is crazy, ours was no different. We had three professional hair/makeup stylists working backstage as well as a number of student stylists. The awesome hair and makeup that defines our three collections were not possible without our stylists. We've also got a lot of volunteers helping backstage, physically helping the models dress during the show since the changing time is so short.

What are some of your favourite pieces of the night?

The last collection, fun/edgy, was my favorite in general. The fur coat outfit was great for me as well as the one with leather pants, white bandeau, and black puffy jacket.

How can interested fashionistas and -istos get involved?

By sending me an email at ymeng@styleta.org! We are always accepting new members to our general body.

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